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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The best cubicle in office

I believe I have got the best cubicle at office. It is right by the corner, separated by a four meter wide wall from the rest of the aisle, facing huge glass windows that look out into the world outside. Admittedly, the view is not ideal. There are new buildings being constructed in the area and there is a settlement of construction workers in their temporary asbestos homes nearby. But a little into the distance, and the horizon, there are only coconut trees and green lands and the blue sky unmarred by the smokes of Bangalore traffic on bright days.

Every once in a while, when I get bored of staring at the monitor, I look away into the window and watch the kids of the workers playing in the fields. They seem to be around four to eight years, three of them, and yet I see them every day. I wonder why they don’t go to school. Then I shake myself up from the corporate bliss and chid myself for not being more in tune with the ground level realities (literally!) that surround the IT parks.

The kids always seem carefree though. Unrestricted in anyway, with parents being away at the construction site, and no school, they do what do the best. Being kids. It is 2:30 in the afternoon, the sun is shining down harsh, but the kids continue to run around and frolic. And I watch, sitting at the best cubicle in office, protected from the heat by the air conditioning, earning to be out there with them in the sun. Freedom is a heavy word most of the times.